


Reaching out

by Severiner



Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers G2 Movie
Genre: Angst, Because that really needs to be a warning, Gen, Starvation, The Matrix - Freeform, Unicronians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26596525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Severiner/pseuds/Severiner
Summary: Just over six Earth months have gone by since the battle inside Unicron. The Autobots have traced the Decepticons back to a small planet, Charr, while one of their own keeps staring at the stars.Having the Matrix is bringing more down sides than up for Hot Rod, newly Rodimus Prime, and he is finding that its opinions differ from his wishes. But unlike the still missing Galvatron, he still has the ability to make his own choices even under the hand of a god.So he makes a choice that changes the course of his life.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	Reaching out

Rodimus Prime found himself looking up to the stars again. It had been barely half a terran year since Unicron. Since Galvatron had tried to reach out to him.

He could not stop thinking of how he had repaid that. Galvatron was almost certainly offline or close to it, lost to the cold clutches of space or possibly had been grabbed by the merciless gravity of one celestial body or another.

‘Thinking of him again when your people still suffer?’ Rodimus shoved the thoughts originating from the Matrix aside almost angrily.

‘They were doing fine before I became Prime. But the Decepticons, our kindred, if not directly brothers, are not,’ Rodimus shot back at it as an added measure.

When those thoughts had first intruded amongst his own, he had first thought them his own. Now he knew otherwise. It wasn’t wrong. He should see to his own people first. But the issue Rodimus was having was how to define who his people were.

He was, after all, the reason the Decepticons were currently leaderless and, their intelligence telling him, huddled on the lifeless ruins of a small world, Charr. They were starving. The Autobots now had a stable hold on Cybertron and more than enough Energon.

‘If I offer the Decepticons peace now, they might take it.’ Rodimus could almost feel the Matrix thinking that over. It remained silent.

“Hey, that is actually not a bad idea,” Rodimus stated out loud, a trace of his old carefree grin replacing the frown. The grin remained as he climbed down from on top of the Iaconian Hall of Records. Time to make an executive order as Prime.

~~~

Convincing everyone had been tough, but in the end the idea of winning by default of their enemies starving, left a very bitter taste. Not one that anyone wanted to taste for real.

Arriving at Charr the situation of the remnants of the Decepticons was worse than their estimates had led them to believe. Though the underpowered gun fire that met them made it depressingly clear why. 

There was mutiny on the spot with half agreeing straight away, even if it meant a stay in a brig. If it meant fuel. Soundwave was a little longer, watching silently, his cassettes nowhere in sight, before nodding. After that it was only the Decepticon newcomers, Scourge, his Sweeps. Whom they had seen in glimpses since arriving, and Cyclonus, whom they had not.

Entrusting the care of the battered Decepticons to the rest of his team, Rodimus set off alone to find and offer amnesty to Galvatrons wingmates.

‘Leave them. They are not ours.’

‘No, Galvatron reached out to me once and I repaid him with his possible death. The least I can do is help them find him.’

‘They are a threat, leave them.’

‘No, leaving them is not the Autobot way.’

Silence. Rodimus liked to think that was the only way the Matrix knew how to admit he was right, and it was wrong.

Rodimus made his way to the highest vantage point over where they had found the Decepticons. He kept track of the dull red optics tracking him, but he did not stop until he saw Cyclonus.

The warrior was seated and watching him impassively. But this time his optics gave him away, dull almost to the point of being off. He must have been skipping fuelling in his grief.

A witty remark was born and died. The offer of sanctuary too remained unspoken.

“I want to help you find him,” The words were soft as Rodimus felt an inexplicable grief while the Matrix repeatedly told him to turn away, leave them to their fate.

“Why?” The single, dull, lifeless word, unknowingly mirroring the Matrix’s own demand, seemingly echoed in the space between them. Around him Rodimus was aware of shadows closing in. Shadows with red optics and energon stained claws. Still he kept his focus on Cyclonus.

Why indeed?

“Because he tried to reach out to me and at the time I failed to reach back,” Rodimus admitted.

Cyclonus’s lips thinned as he thought that over, however it was Scourge who spoke next, “Do you know where to look?”

The words were clearly painful to utter for the Tracker, despite their hopeful tone.

Rodimus had already done the calculations. The direction Unicron had been facing at the time, their location in him. The angle and direction Glavatron had breached the unknowingly weakened point in Unicron’s plating. And the relative astronomical positions. He nodded.

“I have a target area to search.”

Rodimus watched as Cyclonus’ optics flicked to Scourge before sliding back to meet his own.

“Tell us,” Cyclonus demanded with more steel than Rodimus had thought would be left to him.

Rodimus straightened his own back and squared his shoulders, “I would come with you. Wouldn’t want to miss out on the adventure.”

That slip of his glossa earned him the slightest twitch of derma but also, “No.”

Rodimus got a vivid feeling that Cyclonus thought Galvatron dead and that this journey successful or not was to be the Warriors last. He felt his spark ache even as the Matrix once again demanded he leave without them. Rodimus was getting quite sick of its opinions. It also gave him the inspiration for his next words.

“I also know what it is like to have a god try to enforce its will. Primus might be more subtle than Unicron, but I know my own thoughts.” What Rodimus did not add was that the more he disagreed with it the easier it was to tell apart. The words had come out bitter enough as it was.

Surprise briefly etched Cyclonus’ features, “While I appreciate the thought, no.”

“You need fuel and directions, the Decepticons have left you, the war is over. I… I owe it to him,” Rodimus hated himself for the way his voice broke, but he forced himself to continue, “The Autobots don’t need me. But this way I can set one thing right.”

“If.” Cyclonus broke optic contact and gave a static cough that seemed to shake him more than it should. “The war is over when Lord Galvatron says it is.”

“Yeah, well why don’t you let him choose that when we find him?” Again Rodimus’ frustration got the better of him and bypassed his vocal filters.

A flicker of emotion too fast and complex to identify rippled over Cyclonus’ face. Moments dragged by before finally Cyclonus sighed and tipped his helm in weary resignation. “Fine.”

Rodimus knew that was not the end of the matter but it was something.

“We brought fuel, but not enough for the journey ahead of us,” Rodimus frowned as he considered what they would need.

“It will be enough,” Cyclonus gestured for him to lead the way back down.

In the back of his mind the Matrix snarled, warning him of treachery.

‘I know they don’t trust me. But if I take my hand back now it will never be accepted again,’ Rodimus reasoned silently as he led the way back down over the landscape of broken ruins. 

“The directions?” The only reason Rodimus did not jump at Scourge’s words, despite not having heard the Tracker come up beside him, was due to his battle protocols instead routing the reaction to priming his weapons systems.

“A trajectory from Unicron’s remains,” Rodimus knew that if he told a direction they would leave him behind.

Scourge made a soft sound that Rodimus identified as self recriminating only due to personal experience. It made sense to him too. For all his sensors the Universe was a very big place and with no clue of where to start even Scourge would find the task of locating Galvatron difficult at best.

The Decepticons were already fueled and most already in the shuttles when they arrived. Rodimus was deeply grateful that all Ultra Magnus did was nod in acknowledgment and hold out a cube, a small stack still remaining beside him.

“They want to find Galvatron. I will be leading them to where I have calculated he would be,” Rodimus commed Ultra Magnus on a private line.

“They did not accept amnesty then?” The question was sharp, though outwardly Ultra Magnus remained impassive, guarding the Energon to ensure all got a fair share.

Rodimus watched the… hmm, Unicronians, refuel as he considered his reply, “Scourge heard the offer, but it is Galvatron’s choice and ‘He’ is not here.”

“I see. And you wish to search for him or his remains, to offer once he is found,” Ultra Magnus summarised, though it was not an agreement with the idea.

“Something like that, yes. I think they want to get going straight away,” Rodimus admitted, watching how the renewed purpose appeared to give as much vitality as the Energon itself did.

Ultra Magnus was silent as he mulled the situation over, “For the record I do not approve. However I also see your point. You have your emergency rations?” When Rodimus nodded Ultra Magnus added, “Take mine as well. You will have more need for it than I.”

“Thank you, Mags,” Rodimus grinned, slipping the procured rations into his own subspace.

Like always Ultra Magnus frowned at the nickname, “Take care and stay within contact. We can not afford to lose you.”

~~~  
A Sweep met Rodimus at the airlock and led him to the Bridge where Cyclonus was at the controls already edging them away from Charr. Scourge was waiting at the Holodeck, star maps already pulled up.

“Which direction?” Scourge demanded, clearly frustrated with him having managed to hold out this long, his gaze making Rodimus feel as though he could see his very spark. Which well, it was possible given what they had been able to deduce of his abilities.

“One moment. How do you work this?”

“What parameters?” Scourge was clearly uncomfortable with having to actually ask so many questions.

“The date of the battle in Unicron and the star maps from him and spearing out from his left Ventral, I think two degrees up,” Rodimus tilted his helm as he tried once again to recall the exact details required.

“You had better narrow it down better than that Autobot,” Scourge muttered, a light push sending the controls for the holodeck around to Rodimus’ side once he had set it up.

Rodimus did have to admit it was a very large area, but as he input his calculations the space narrowed but lengthened, twisting and curving around gravity wells both major and minor.

“That's it.”

“This will do, I suppose,” Scourge sighed and with a glance at their current course, oriented himself, staring out seemingly through the metal of the bulkhead.

~~~

“Heh. So the trajectory I figured out was not so far off after all,” Rodimus laughed looking at the glowing point on the starmap Scourge had just finished inputting data into.

“It was a starting point, rudimentary at best. If it was not for some material amplifying Lord Galvatron’s signature, I would still be searching from that information,” Scourge scoffed, proud enough of his abilities to show that he too held some of the same arrogance of their missing Lord.

“Material? What are the conditions on this plantaiod?” Cyclonus demanded from where he was piloting the Revenge. A starmap of their destination taking up one of the screens in front of him.

“Some sort of Plasma, that is the only viable material that could give that sort of distortion pattern and amplification. The planetoid itself is mostly barren rock, though it does have some interesting magnetic compounds. Likely that is what keeps the Plasma,” Scourge replied. Rodimus noting that his optics obtained that ‘far away’ look again, as if he was literally seeing it.

~~~

Sooner than Rodimus would have guessed, considering the vast distances, they were there. It was at this point that Rodimus realised a small problem.

“I can’t fly,” Rodimus stated as Cyclonus set the Revenge into orbit.

“That is your problem,” Cyclonus stated, striding past with barely a glance in his direction.

“Don’t try anything, Autobot. I will be watching you,” Scourge added following Cyclonus out, not even a hint of a glance his way, though again Rodimus felt seen right down to his spark.

“Right, I will, eh, wait here then,” Rodimus stated to the empty Bridge, though part of him felt that Scourge had heard him.

~~~

“Coordinating with your Autobot buddies?” Rodimus almost jumped at the sudden intrusion of sound. Though how Galvatron had managed to get that close with his cannons capacitors charging that audibly, he did not know. Though he had just been in contact with Jazz, Ultra Magnus being busy holding the battle lines.

Rodimus felt his spark skip a pulse as he looked along the length of the massive cannon and into familiar crimson optics and it was not only due to fear. But that could not quite cut through the terror and grief already swirling amongst the Matrix’s demands to return to Cybertron.

“Cybertron is under attack.”

“And why should that concern me?” Galvatron demanded, the cannon not wavering from where it pointed at his spark, at the Matrix.

“I don’t know what you consider yourself. But they would consider you Cybertronian and apparently, these Quintisons, want all Cybertronians under their control again.... They are the creators of our race,” Rodimus explained, feeling the beginning numbness of despair. The Matrix had already explained the horrors of the first Quintison wars.

“That gives them no right!” Galvatron’s snarl edged up into a shriek, and Rodimus saw sparks along the tines of the crown like protrusions on Galvatron’s helm. He found himself wondering just how deeply Unicron’s claws had gone, and how deeply the Matrix was digging itself for that matter.

“Yeah, exactly,” Despite his concerns Rodimus was gratified by the reply.

“Hmmrmmm, this had better not be some trick, Prime!” Glavatron’s optics narrowed in suspicion along with the words.

“If I may, Mighty Galvatron. Cybertron ‘is’ under siege,” Scourge cautiously offered, saving Rodimus from having to find a reply to ‘that’.

Much to Rodimus’ relief, Galvatron grinned, though that was not a friendly sight, “Well then, let's go join the fight! How long will it take us to get there?”

Rodimus shifted back to sink against the nearest wall when Galvatron turned to take the command seat seemingly forgetting about him for the moment as the trio started discussing plans for attack. All this time Cyclonus had already been piloting the Revenge towards Cybertron, though he readily gave control over to Galvatron.

In the back of Rodimus’ mind the Matrix whispered it's fears, of Galvatron siding with the Quintisons, or of turning on them once the siege was lifted.

‘Na, I think if the Quintisons are truly slavers, then we can almost count on Galvatron hunting down every last one. And I will be there every step of the way.’


End file.
